Yukon Mountie charged with sexual assault is brother of NHL player

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One of two Yukon RCMP officers charged with sexual assault is Graham Belak, the brother of NHL hockey player Wade Belak.

Court documents obtained Thursday by CBC News show that Graham Belak, 29, and Shawn McLaughlin, 32, were charged Wednesday after a woman in the southern Yukon town of Watson Lake told police that she was sexually assaulted Sunday by two off-duty officers from the local detachment.

The incident was reported to RCMP on Monday morning, according to police. In announcing the charges on Wednesday, RCMP said they would not release the officers' names until they make their first court appearance.

Belak and McLaughlin, who were both suspended from the police force with pay, are scheduled to appear before a circuit court judge in Watson Lake on April 6.

The younger brother of Wade Belak, a forward and defenceman with the NHL's Nashville Predators, Graham Belak is himself well-known among hockey players and officials in Whitehorse.

On his website, Wade Belak said his brother had played in some lower-tier professional leagues, including the American Hockey League and Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom.

Aside from working from the Whitehorse RCMP detachment last year, Graham Belak played hockey and helped coach a midget boys hockey team in the Yukon capital.

The investigation continues into the sexual assault charges, led by the Yukon RCMP's major crimes section.

Observers from the Edmonton city police and the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP are monitoring the investigation to ensure it is impartial and free of conflicts of interest.